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foulin' plugs update!

well got my machine back to skidoo in wasilla on monday, they told me they'd check it monday afternoon or tuesday am...called tues around 11. they hadn't even touched it. i made sure they knew i needed it by wend am. so they fianlly tear into the broken rewind on tues afternoon, call me and tell me i'm up to over 900 dollars in parts that need to be replaced due to some washer thing rattling around inside near the coils?!
but they can't get the new parts till friday or monday...if they had checked it mon like they said they'd have had it fixed by friday, which woulda worked for me but noooo.
so i told them forget it, your too late, took the machine home, all tore apart. so without the rewind fixed they coudlnt' even get to the fouled plugs problem.

SO i rented a sled from a toy rental place in wasilla, a 600 etec with a 146x2.25 in track.
sleds pull to the left BAD, it has the track with all the holes in it to save weight..in the powder it sinks like a bad brick in the powder. what a waste, i'd never buy one of those things with that track on it. just about got stuck in the ditch...so i get about 20 miles down the denali hwy on my next hunt and brrrrrrr etec shuts off, rewind won't even turn over, thought i blew the thing up...after a while i get it running go a quarter mile...brrrrr shuts off, four times inside two miles. parked it, took the key and will be calling the rental place in the morning....

great year for me and snowmachines and places that deal with them...i find myself eyeing polaris now....

You either had a twisted right ski or a no carbides on it, I had a problem with my sled wanting to pull to the right and I found my left ski carbide almost gone. You shouldn't judge the Ski Doo sleds by what happened with this rental sled. Remember, it is a RENTAL sled and they do get abused by renters. If I wasn't using my sled this weekend i'd let you use it, though it's not set up for hunting.

I would not take my machine to either of the Team CC for repairs, they have a 2 hour minimum charge which I think is bs. Take it to Chad at Attention to Detail sledworks, he can get that thing up and running in no time and doesn't charge near as much as the stealerships do.

i have sent A2D sledworks an email last night, as they are the guys that put the rewind on that broke, it just didn't break it melted didn't disengaged and got spun into a pile of melted plastic and peices...a big washer got up inside the something or other, the metal piece that the rewind attaches too and just went crazy doing 6000 rmps for a few hours..so i'm not sure what all it really did in there.

it looked like the right ski was pointed to the left...wasnt' alinged was my guess, but man that tires you out. machine wasn't really comfy to ride, lacked alot of powder and the track was a huge disapointment..couldn't belive i had to power outa the ditch at full throttle just to move 3 feet...miss my old sled.

heard good things about A2D so i'm hoping to hear some good or at least encouraging news from them...

Chad will take care of you, hopefully he is not out riding today since the weather cleared up. I know what you mean by having bad steering tiring you out. First big snowfall of the year I rode Petersville and I had all I could to keep my sled on the trail, by the end of the day I was whooped.

Sticking up a little for the rental shop.....their stuff got creamed during the Iditarod weekend. As a matter of fact some friends had rented from them the weekend after and had to let them use one of their personal machines('03 Sabercat) for the weekend. The 600 Etec they had was pretty sweet. I am here to say that the sled needs a lot more rider input then you are use too to make it perform, especially with our current snow conditions.

This last weekend, I rode a friend's 162" Yami 4 stoker with a 2.25" paddle and even that sled had issues staying on top and required a bunch of input to keep things moving. He was getting stuck alot and thought something was wrong. In my opinion it was just the conditions and rider fatigue. He tried riding my shortie with 1.5" paddle and only went 10 feet, literally.

I agree about the ported track being part of the issue but look at conditions and what shape the sled is in. If looking for a sled consider looking at the A/C Crossfire or M sleds. If leaning more towards a work machine consider the Bearcat 570 fan cooled, especially if you may have high idle times.

Last but not least found my 1st set of bear tracks in Eagle River valley Tuesday Afternoon.

the rental shop has another sled coming out to me tomorrow and i'll get the etec yard ornament back to them on sunday.
i have an 800 highmark with a 151x2" and it is night and day with this 600, mines a 2002 and it rides and drives so much nicer and it actually has balance. this etec is so front heavy it wouldn't drive in the parking lot unless you sat on the tunnel. makes getting it on and off a trailer a pain in the rear. i guess i might expected to much from the 600 etec. i just know i won't be buying that style of machine just based off the comfort factor. i wasn't a fan, others might love it, maybe it just takes time to get used to it but..didn't have time..only lasted 20 miles before it shut down.
Got an email from A2D, said he'd check it out, skidoo never once emailed me back..so that was refreshing. chad did mention that skidoo is known for blown rewinds messing stuff up...greeatttt. curious to see what sled i get to ride tomorrow...hehe

A buddy of mine from outside rented a 2008 600 ETEC from a rental shop in Wasilla. (before the Iditarod) We wanted to take him to our cabin for the weekend. We left the truck and made it exactly 10 miles and the thing died, could never get it started again. To make a long story short we towed it back and he had to ride my kids 380 short track that we leave at the lodge. We returned the sled when we got back and without even looking at it they said the rings were probably gone. They drug it in the shop while we were still there and did a compression test and sure enough nothing in one cylinder.

If you are honestly interested in seeing what a Bearcat 570 can do for you, Dave at Alaska Mtn. Magic (733-SNOW) has a demo and could very likely be convinced to loan it to you for a couple days. I've ridden it and it's a very capable sled.

no bear, sign is still nill..still cold up here, didn't get above freezing today. sure could use some warm to get a nice crust on the snow. we have about four feet of sugar, makes the going tough.
should see my new rental later tonight....i'm sure i'll have a sled report.
almost got an 800 etec prototype loaner from team cc. i guess they have one they just are trying to put miles on..i offered my services but it didn't fly...lol